SIBU: Loading and unloading operations of Bandungs or double decker vessels used mainly for transporting groceries and light cargo along the Batang Rajang River, will be shifted back to the pontoon wharf at Temple Street here.
Sarawak Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin said the vessels had been temporarily operating at the Burung Apu cargo wharf at Khoo Peng Loong Road here since the early this year following the start of a project to build a new jetty at the pontoon wharf, which was completed on Sept 5.
“It (the project) provides safer, more reliable and convenience to the shipping and riverine communities as well as the general public,” he told reporters after witnessing the handing over of Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB) certificate of practical completion to Syarikat Shar Permata, the project contractor, today.
Costing RM862,182.75, the project was funded by the Sarawak government but was delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic and the contractor had been granted 50 days extension of time to complete it.
Lee added that the project had given the pontoon wharf another 50-year lifespan after it was originally built in 1970 and would continue to facilitate Bandung vessels to serve riverine settlements such as Nanga Dap, Ngemah, Song and Kapit upstream Batang Rajang, as well as those downriver. – Bernama
